Bruges

Bruge is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the northwest of Belgium. It has a population of around 120,000 of whom around 20,000 live in the old city centre, a UNESCO World Heritage, and is sometimes called “The Venice of the North”. Bruge has had a chequered commercial past and at one time was the world’s chief city of commerce. It is still of significant economical importance thanks to its port.
The city is a tourist magnet: the combination of a charming medieval city with a maze of winding cobbled alleys and romantic canals, a wealth of museums and contemporary culture, a range of excellent accommodation from exclusive hotels to homely bed & breakfast establishments and excellent restaurants and eateries is irresistible.
One “must-see” is the Beguinage of Bruge, little houses of the beguine, monastery-like communities founded in 1245. A Benedictine Convent has been housed here since 1928 and one of the little houses has been converted into a fascinating museum, giving an idea of the life of the beguines here from the 13th century on.